I meant to get this issue out to you last Tuesday, but as usual things don’t quite go as planned. I’ve been spending more time with my family and stayed away from the computer more than I planned. To be honest, I needed a little break after the server move. Then there were quite a few little issues that came up related to the server move that needed to be taken care of before I could send out another newsletter edition. Hopefully I’ve discovered them all by now and this shouldn’t be an issue down the road anymore.

I thought long and hard about the best way to go about paying for this new server. I took all your wonderful ideas into consideration. Some of you suggested that I charge a yearly fee to cover the cost of the server, but I’m just not comfortable with that. This has always been a free site and a free newsletter and I want it to stay that way. Others mentioned adding a donation button to the site. I thought and prayed long and hard on that one, but in the end it didn’t feel right either.

Thankfully the right answer came to me a little over a week ago. I sat down and wrote a new ebook for you, all about summer cooking. My initial plan was to come up with a 10 to 15 page document, but I couldn’t stop adding to it and it is now over 40 pages long, full of simple summer recipes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and even picnics and potlucks. I also included all the wonderful tips you have submitted and added quite a few of my own.

The Summer Cooking ebook is available for $5.00, all of which will go toward helping pay for the new server. My goal is to raise enough funds to pay for the server through the end of the year, so I can stop worrying about making those payments and concentrate on adding more great stuff for you to the website.

Of course that’s not the only way you can help out. You may also want to consider joining the HBHW Club, or if spending money is not an option for you right now (I completely understand), consider helping in one of the following ways.

Spread the word… tell your friends and family members about the Hillbilly Housewife website and invite them to join the newsletter.

If you have a website or blog, link to a few of the articles or recipes on the website. If you’ve tried a recipe, write up a little review about it and link to the page with the recipe on it.

If you are a member of an active forum or newsgroup, consider recommending the Hillbilly Housewife website were appropriate.

If you belong to a church that is part of the Angel Food Ministry, let the person in charge of the program know about the free Angel Food Menus that are available right here on the Hillbilly Housewife website.

That’s it for this week. As always, I welcome your comments and suggestions. Feel free to email me at susanne@hillbillyhousewife.com

Warm Regards,

Susanne – The Hillbilly Housewife

Sponsor

This newsletter is sponsored by my newest ebook – Simple Summer Cooking. Grab your digital copy today for $5.00 and help me pay for this fancy new server.

Inspirational Quote

Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend. – Theophrastus

Reader Question

Sorry, no reader questions this week. If you have a question about anything cooking, homemaking or frugal living related, send it my way and I’ll be glad to answer it in one of the upcoming issues of the newsletter.

News From The HBHW Club

This is a new section of the newsletter. Each week I’m going to share some tidbits of what’s going on at the HBHW Club with you. I hope you enjoy these extra tips, recipes and ideas and of course would love to have you join the club. As a HBHW newsletter subscriber, you can join for only $10 per month here:

Dissolve the brown sugar in the milk in a large bowl. Now, add the ingredients to the sugar-milk mixture in the order listed; egg, flour, baking powder, nuts, dates, salt, mixing gently between each ingredient. Don’t over mix. Spray a loaf pan with non-stick spray, or lightly grease the pan on the bottom and up the sides. Pour mixture into pan and let stand as is for 1/2 hour. Then put in 350 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes until it reaches a pretty golden color.

Some other recipes recently added are:

Old Time English Toffee Bars

Homemade Instant Hot Chocolate Mix

Rice and Hot Dogs

Microwave Chicken Cacciatore

Sausage and Penne Pasta

Taco Casserole

Best Bread Machine Bread

Mexican Chicken Casserole

All in all, we have over 100 new recipes in the member area already.

This week we’ve been talking about homeschooling, cooking with natural and organic foods and of course about this month’s resource guide. This month’s guide is all about family budgeting and includes some budgeting worksheets.

This week’s article is all about coupon savings. I have to admit, I’m not always the most successful when using coupons, but thankfully I have some close friends who are very good at it and they were kind enough to share some tips with me that I am passing along to you in this article. Here it is:

How much do you spent each month on paper towels? Here are two quick tips that will instantly help you save.

1) Use Cloth Instead
Get some inexpensive cloth napkins to use instead of paper towels to use at dinner, or to whip up spills. You can also use kitchen towels, cut up large towels, or even thin cotton baby blankets cut into squares.

2) If you’re not ready to completely give up paper towels, cut each roll in half with a large serrated knife before you use them. That way you automatically only use half a sheet of paper towel every time you grab one.

Frugal Tips From Our Readers

It sounds a little odd, but I soak the labels off of glass jars when we are finished with them (pickles, applesauce, relish, etc…) and use them a drinking glasses. They are great for soda because the foam stops at the neck and fizzes out, no more spills! It takes a lot to break them because of their thickness and it’s great to recycle and reuse. It’s a small action but if everyone does one small action it helps our planet a lot.
Jennifer M

Sorry if this is already on your site, but I could not find it. This saves
a lot of money each year for me. I breed static electricity, so I need some
kind of dryer sheet. The ones you can buy are expensive and bad for the
environment.

You can use any liquid fabric softener you want, and you can make any amount
you want.

1 part liquid fabric softener
2 parts water

Cut up a few new sponges into pieces about an inch square…or larger…it
does not matter.

Mix the fabric softener and the water into a bucket or something with a lid.
Place the sponge pieces into the mixture.
When drying clothes, take a sponge out of the bucket, squeeze a bit out,
throw in dryer.
After drying, put the sponge back in the bucket to use again.

A gallon of fabric soften lasts our family almost a year now.
Kathie

Featured Recipe

This week’s featured recipe was inspired by all the hot weather around here. It’s for a no bake strawberry pie. It is my favorite dessert to make when we have company in the summer, but to be honest, it’s so good, I make it just for us as well. Since strawberries are still in season this is the perfect time to give it a try.

This week’s reader recipe was submitted by Jennifer M. and is for a simple, but oh – so – delicious Cabbage Casserole. It only took me about 15 minutes to put together and then about 15 more minutes in the oven, making it a perfect meal when you need to put dinner together fast. It also helps that it’s a real kid-pleaser. Here’s the recipe.

This section is going to be all about you. If you are looking for a particular recipe or a tip on how to do something, email it to me and I will post it in an upcoming newsletter. I’ll give you my input and will also post any suggestions other readers of the newsletter come up with. So take a moment to write me your questions and of course if you have a tip or idea for any question posted in this section feel free to send me that as well.

Here’s this week’s requests:

I’m looking for a Pappadeaux clone recipe for Oysters St.
Philippe appetizer. We’ve had this when in Houston &amp; would love the recipe. I
haven’t been able to find it on the internet or through requests on other sites.

Marilyn

I found out about a month and a half ago that I have severe acid reflux.
I would like recipes that do not use tomatoes, no citrus, very little onion
or garlic. I could use a little powder. I also cannot use any Chiles, or
cinnamon also. All the above are triggers for the acid reflux.

Cathy

My significant other talks about a frosting for brownies his mom used to make when he was a kid. I can’t get the recipe as she’s no longer with us. He describes the frosting as very chocolatey, smooth on the bottom and crusty on the top. I asked if she let it sit out & he said it was like that the same day she made it. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Kathy

We are also still looking for responses to the following requests:

I am looking for a goat’s milk shaving soap that I can make at home. My husband really like using this when I had a source but that is since gone. If someone has a “easy” recipe for this please ask them to pass it on.

Kathy
Marietta, SC

Dear Susanne, I would like to know if any of your readers have a recipie for strawberry cream cheese pie. This was a pie with tall peaks of creamy white filling that surrounded sliced strawberries. The filling tasted of lightly of cream cheese. It was whipped and very tall and the strawberry slices were suspended in it. The crust was a standard pie crust underneath. We used to eat it at a small diner in Belview Florida. Thanks Jen

When I lived in Jamestown, Ohio in the late 70’s; I used to have Sunday dinner at a restaurant and for dessert they had a Pineapple cream pie that was super delicious. It was so good that I would call on Saturday and get them to make me a whole pie for take home. I was hoping someone out there has a recipe for it.
Karen

I’m looking for recipes for cooking goat meat?
Michelle

I’ve been looking for a pecan pie recipe that has a
rather soft & sirupy texture…not the fairly solid/stiff one that
most recipes produce. I used to buy this pie years ago at an Isaly
store in Ohio. Not sure, but I think they said they were homemade by a
Mrs Smith. They were all delicious. Could this be the same Mrs Smith
that makes the frozen pies of today?? I don’t know – but I wish I had
the recipe for the one Isaly’s used to sell!!
Jade

And here are last issue’s requests followed by the recipes and ideas submitted since then:

Mostly I received quite a few more replies to the previous week’s issues, mainly ideas for staying on a liquid diet. Here are a few more ideas on that topic.

Tips for the poor guy who has to have all liquids for 6 weeks

Anything that will go through a straw will classify as liquid, so anything
that can be blended and thinned to drinking consistency will work. You may
have to experiment with what is used to thin to make the taste tolerable.

A personal suggestion is cold (yes I said cold) tomato soup. (Of course, you
have to like tomato soup in the first place ) One of my room mates in
nursing school introduced me to this one 45+ years ago, and I still like it.
I use canned tomato soup (store brand preferably) with equal amount of milk
(whole, skim, 2% whatever you want) add 2-3 ice cubes and blend until ready
to drink. To go through a straw, you might need more than an equal amount
of milk, or more ice. Cold beef broth is also good.

And something almost unthinkable is bread. It can be blended to a liquid
state. This was served to my mother in law in the hospital. Everything
served to her was well blended (not quite liquid but could have been). They
just took the regular meal and blended each item separately–meat, veg,
fruit, desert and yes, bread.

Barb Wolf

This is in response to the poor woman who has to make 6 weeks worth of
liquid meals for her husband…
One of my favorite summer soups is gazpacho- a tomato based veggie soup. It
is blended, served cold and will provide lots of fiber and vitamins and a
savory alternative to all of those fruit smoothies he’s bound to get…
There are lots of recipes out there but here is mine:
1 28oz can of tomatoes
1 cucumber peeled and seeded
1 green pepper seeded
6 green onions cut into 4-6 in. pieces
3-4 leaves of fresh basil
1 Serrano or jalapeno pepper
Blend these ingredients in a food processor or blender
Add up to 1 quart of chicken or veggie stock
1Tbls balsamic vinegar
2Tbls olive oil
2tsp Worcestershire sauce
2-3 shakes Tabasco sauce
Salt and pepper to taste (you can leave out the Serrano/Tabasco if you are
sensitive to heat)
This will keep for about 5 days in the fridge but does not freeze well…

Gwen

one thing she’ll need to think about too is fiber – she can put flax seeds
in the blender w/ whatever she makes, as well as fresh or frozen spinach
leaves, dried prunes [these don't taste 'pruny' if only a few are added in a
lot of things] etc – but he’s not going to feel very good if he’s
constipated the entire time he’s healing!

she can use extra dry milk to add protein in the blender stuff, also raw
eggs [like the homemade orange julius recipe i sent in] – please tell her
they’ll both be in my prayers! hugs laughter [gayle bond]
Gayle B.

I am writing re: Megan whose husband is having surgery requiring his jaw to be
wired shut. As a speech pathologist I can tell you that you were right on the
money with your advice. I have had patients with wired jaws. Our hospital
dietary dept. sends a very similar menu to the one all the other pts. receive.
Then whatever the pt. chooses to eat is blended into a drinkable consistency. It
can be done with just about ANY food that is cooked. Extra liquid needs to be
added of course and flavor does not have to be compromised if the liquid is broth,
juice etc. Hope this helps!

Susan

Inspirational Story

THE PANCAKES

Author Unknown

Six year old Brandon decided one Saturday morning to fix his parents pancakes.

pancakes dripping with syrup

He found a big bowl and spoon, pulled a chair to the counter, opened the cupboard and pulled out the heavy flour canister, spilling it on the floor.

He scooped some of the flour into the bowl with his hands, mixed in most of a cup of milk and added some sugar, leaving a floury trail on the floor which by now had a few tracks left by his kitten.
kitten
Brandon was covered with flour and getting frustrated. He wanted this to be something very good for Mom and Dad, but it was getting very bad.

He didn’t know what to do next, whether to put it all into the oven or on the stove, (and he didn’t know how the stove worked!).

Suddenly he saw his kitten licking from the bowl of mix and reached to push her away, knocking the egg carton to the floor.

Frantically he tried to clean up this monumental mess but slipped on the eggs, getting his pajamas white and sticky.

And just then he saw Dad standing at the door.

Big crocodile tears welled up in Brandon’s eyes. All he’d wanted to do was something good, but he’d made a terrible mess.
father and child
He was sure a scolding was coming, maybe even a spanking. But his father just watched him.

Then, walking through the mess, he picked up his crying son, hugged him and loved him, getting his own pajamas white and sticky in the process.

That’s how God deals with us. We try to do something good in life, but it turns into a mess.

Our marriage gets all sticky or we insult a friend or we can’t stand our job or our health goes sour. Sometimes we just stand there in tears because we can’t think of anything else to do.

That’s when God picks us up and loves us and forgives us, even though some of our mess gets all over Him. But just because we might mess up, we can’t stop trying to “make pancakes,” for God or for others.

Sooner or later we’ll get it right, and then they’ll be glad we tried.Final Thought

That’s it for this edition of the Hillbilly Housewife Newsletter. I hope you’ve had as much fun reading it as I had creating it for you. I also hope that you have found the information helpful and useful. And by all means feel free to forward the newsletter to family and friends or even better, encourage them to subscribe to it.

Do you have a question, a tip, a recipe or a story you’d like to share with us? Email it to me and I’ll include it in a future issue. Can’t wait to see what you have to say.

Warm Wishes,

Susanne – The Hillbilly Housewife

Sponsor

Freezer Cooking Made Simple

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